Macrovision Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:MVSN), a digital entertainment
technology leader and Muze, Inc., a leader in entertainment information
products and discovery services, today announced that they have signed a
definitive agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of Muze,
Inc.
Consumers’ options are increasing as entertainment becomes digital. They
can now enjoy their movies, music or other digital content in more ways,
including numerous options online and on portable devices. All of these
choices lead to an increased need for enhanced search and discovery
capabilities to help consumers find entertainment content that matches
their personal preferences. This process is powered by entertainment
metadata.
"Macrovision believes that professional entertainment metadata is
required for our customers to provide best in class consumer facing
products,” said Fred Amoroso, President and CEO of Macrovision. "The
addition of the Muze assets will complement Macrovision’s data
solutions. It represents continued execution on our vision of delivering
solutions that power a uniquely simple home entertainment experience.”
Macrovision’s solutions are built to enable consumers to continuously
explore digital content by allowing them to easily navigate and find
entertainment information. This requires not only a rich library of
entertainment metadata, but the detailed links within the metadata to
expose the relationships between the content and artists, such as other
albums or songs an artist may have contributed to. To deliver this level
of detail, digital entertainment providers require a trusted data source.
"Macrovision’s metadata is core to the entertainment experience of
consumers around the world,” said John Moakley, EVP of Macrovision’s
Data Solutions Group. "We believe the addition of Muze product and
technology, including more metadata for European content, will result in
a better solution for our customers by enhancing our overall metadata
portfolio.”
"Media information is more than an enhancement to a service, it's a
necessity without which consumers would not be able to find what they
are looking for,” says Janice P. Anderson, Chairman and CEO of Muze.
"Macrovision is acquiring a unified and consistent approach to managing
entertainment metadata, enabling consumers to more easily search and
discover entertainment products.”
In connection with the acquisition, Macrovision will pay $16.5 million
in cash consideration. The transaction is expected to close by the end
of April and is subject to customary closing conditions. The Company
expects the transaction to add approximately $5 million to its 2009
revenue estimates and to be slightly accretive to current 2009 Adjusted
Pro Forma Earnings per Share estimates. As a result, the Company expects
that its 2009 revenue will now range between $440 and $480 million and
that its 2009 Adjusted Pro Forma Earnings per Share will continue to
range between $1.15 and $1.45. As the full synergies of the acquisition
are expected to be realized in 2010, the Company expects the transaction
to contribute approximately $15 million and $0.10 to 2010 revenue and
Adjusted Pro Forma Earnings Per Share, respectively.
About Macrovision Solutions Corporation
Macrovision Solutions Corporation is focused on providing a uniquely
simple digital home entertainment experience by delivering solutions to
businesses to protect, enhance and distribute digital goods to consumers
across multiple channels. Macrovision’s technologies are deployed by
companies in the entertainment, consumer electronics, cable and
satellite, and online distribution markets to solve industry-specific
challenges and bring greater value and a more robust user experience to
their customers. The result of deploying Macrovision’s solutions is a
simple end user experience for discovering, managing and enjoying
digital content. Today, Macrovision provides connected middleware, media
recognition, interactive programming guides, copy protection and rich
media, data and metadata on music, games, movies and television
programming. The company also operates an entertainment portal which can
be found at http://www.allmusic.com.
Macrovision holds over 4,000 issued or pending patents and patent
applications worldwide.
Macrovision is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, with numerous
offices across the United States and around the world including Japan,
Hong Kong, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom. More information about
Macrovision can be found at www.macrovision.com.
About Muze, Inc.
Established in 1991, Muze provides solutions to businesses that enable
search, discovery, sharing, and purchasing of entertainment products.
Muze media information products and discovery services provide the
foundation for making all types of entertainment products available
on-demand anywhere, anytime, and are used by hundreds of companies
worldwide to develop audiences and customers. Muze clients range from
in-store and online retailers, portals, community sites, and auction
sites, to consumer electronics manufacturers and mobile services
providers, all of whom rely on Muze’s rich entertainment content and
digital sample services to support both physical and digital retail
commerce. Muze is based in New York City with operations in North
America and the United Kingdom.
Forward Looking Statements
All statements contained herein that are not statements of historical
fact, including statements that use the words "will” or "is expected
to,” or similar words that describe the Company’s or its management’s
future plans, objectives, or goals, including statements regarding
expectations for future financial results, are "forward-looking
statements” and are made pursuant to the Safe-Harbor provisions of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking
statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors that could cause the actual results of the Company to be
materially different from the historical results and/or from any future
results or outcomes expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. Such factors are further addressed in the Company’s most
recent annual report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2008
and such other documents as are filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission from time to time (available at www.sec.gov).
The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking
statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise
after the date of this release, except as required by law.